1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic urine collection apparatus for automatically collecting urine excreted by such a bedridden patient and elderly person.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently is known an automatic urine collection system for automatically collecting urine excreted by such a bedridden patient and elderly person. In general, the automatic urine collection system is mainly configured with a urine receiver attached to a private part of such a patient through a diaper; a tube of which one end is connected to the urine receiver; and an automatic urine collection apparatus connected to the other end of the tube. As the automatic urine collection apparatus is conventionally known the apparatus including a collection container for accumulating urine discharged from the urine receiver through the tube and a suction pump for sucking the urine accumulated in the urine receiver and carrying it to the collection container.
In such an automatic urine collection apparatus there has occurred a request of a user wanting to know a volume of urine accumulated in a collection container in order to make the volume an index for judging a health condition of a care receiver and a timing of disposing of the urine accumulated in the collection container.
As an invention to be able to cope with such a request is disclosed an apparatus for detecting a level of urine collected in a collection container (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-126242). The apparatus disclosed in the JP 2003-126242 is configured to float a float having a built-in permanent magnet in urine within a collection container and to detect the float ascending as the urine is accumulated by a magnetic sensor provided on an upper face of a lid part of the collection container.
However, the automatic urine collection apparatus disclosed in the JP 2003-126242 is configured to be able to detect the float when the float reaches the lid part of the collection container, and therefore, there is a problem that a urine level (volume of urine) can be measured only when the container is full of the urine.
Consequently, there is a need for an automatic urine collection apparatus that can measure a volume of urine regardless of the volume and that comprises a collection container easily washed.